One of the key events in Bristol's cultural calendar, St Pauls Carnival began as St Paul's Festival in 1967 - a multicultural celebration of the communities in and around the area of St Paul's. The identity of the festival shifted to a more Caribbean flavour when Trinidadian Francis Salandy became the festival organiser in 1975; by 1986 the main cultural events and stage were almost entirely African-Caribbean. By 1991 the St Paul's Festival was renamed the St Paul's Afrikan-Caribbean Carnival, although it still retained an inclusive ethos. There was a break in 2006 when the Board was restructured. The involvement of a new Board and the engagement of an Artistic Director after reorganisation in 2006 improved the artistic quality, management and relations with the media, funding agencies and sponsors. It involves over a thousand participants including sound system engineers, children from the local primary schools, artists, local sports events, circus, visiting groups, parents and officials. It is run by a not-for-profit organisation, which oversees the planning and delivery of the event. The procession which is the focal event is a pageant of costumes, cultures and floats, each reflecting powerful cultural traditions from around the world. Alongside this street parade there are a host of sound systems playing different styles of music, live stages featuring local and international artists, the spoken word corner co-ordinated by local poets, stalls offering a taste of foods from different continents, a creative environment for families located in St Agnes Park and pre carnival events including Mas camps where local people can gather to create their own costumes. (Extracted from an article by Pax Nindi written in June 2008.)

Access status

Mixed

Access conditions

Data Protection Act 1998

Copyright

Copyright in many items is owned by SPACCA, in other items it is owned by a third party identifiable from evidence in the documents. For other items the author or copyright owners are unknown.

Archivist's note

The filing system appears to have been ad hoc rather than consistent, but the arrangement is usually based on an administrative file for each carnival, with supplementary files for major sub sections such as the stalls, Mandela's Hideaway (provision for children on the day of the procession) and performers. The original files have been kept; the contents have been repackaged and the description reflects the original file name. Loose papers have been organised in line with the existing arrangements. This is a modern collection and includes many files and papers. The files have been left intact; no selection process was undertaken by the organisation before deposit and only multiple copies have been weeded out. Some material therefore remains in the files which might otherwise not have been selected for individual preservation. This is particularly the case with the files kept by Amirah Cole (Chair from 2000 Apr) and Carlton Romaine (Carnival Co-ordinator from c 1994). Some loose papers have not been preserved, notably printed material kept by the organisation for reference but having no bearing on the activities of the Carnival. The researcher should note that where there is no dedicated file for a particular group, for example a Festival sub-group, the material may be in the general file for that year. Similarly, if there is nothing for a particular year check related files to see if more than one year is covered. There are many records included which were not created by the Carnival Office. Some of these were deliberately filed for future reference, for example the artiste advertisements and music, circulars relating to similar events and funding criteria. Other records may be present simply because they were stored with or near to the St Paul's Carnival archive at Kuumba. Bristol City Council is well represented owing to strong links with the community and the Carnival.

Custodial history

Acquired as part of the Bristol Black Archives Partnership from Kuumba in Feb 2008. The archives had previously been stored in the Carnival offices at the Kuumba Headquarters in Hepburn Road. No early archives were deposited, so it is unfortunately likely that records pre-dating 1974 are lost. Records for the 1970s are sparse.